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April 2010 Open Government Plan Self-Assessment

Here you will find OPM's April 23, 2010, self-evaluation of our Open Government Plan. The directions, provided by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), were to indicate a response to each of the criteria in the Open Government Directive as follows:

Red (R) - plan does not satisfy the requirement
Yellow (Y) - plan partially satisfies the requirement
Green (G) - plan fully satisfies the requirement
N/A - not applicable because agency does not engage in that activity or area

We were also asked to include any explanatory comments at the end of our self-evaluation and to consider providing page references.

We have modified the format for usability and accessibility and corrected a typographical error but have not otherwise modified the questions or our responses.

The column labeled "pages" refers to the page numbers in version 1.1, which we posted with this evaluation. You can see all of the versions on our Open Government Plans page.

Self-Evaluation

Table 1: Formulating the Plan in the Open
Question	Color	Pages
1. Was multidisciplinary collaboration involved in formulating the plan?	Green
2. Was public consultation involved in crafting the plan?	Green
3. Was the plan published in an open format, online, on time and on the open government page and with raw data?	Green
4. Is there a plan for continued public engagement as part of the review and modification of the open government plan?	Green	Throughout the plan

Table 2: Transparency Strategic Action Plan
Question	Color	Pages
5. Does the plan contain a strategic action plan that inventories agency high-value information currently available for download?	Green	12-18
6. Is there a plan to foster the public's use of this information to increase public knowledge and promote public scrutiny of agency services?	Green	17
7. Does the action plan identify high value information not yet available and establish a reasonable timeline for publication online in open formats with specific target dates?	Green	14
8. For agencies providing public information in electronic format: Is there a plan for timely publication of underlying data for public information maintained in electronic format?	Green	17-18
9. Does the plan identify key audiences for information and their needs, and the agency endeavors to publish high-value information for each of those audiences in the most accessible forms and formats?	Green	Throughout the plan
10. Is there a plan to demarcate educational material as free for re-use?	N/A
11. Does the plan detail compliance with transparency initiative guidance, and where gaps exist, detailed steps the agency is taking and the timing to meet the requirements for each initiative:
a. Data.gov	Green	18
b. eRulemaking	Green	18
c. IT Dashboard	Green	18-19
d. Recovery.gov	Green	19
e. USAspending.gov	Green	19
12. Are there details of proposed actions (with clear milestones) to inform the public of significant actions and business of the agency (e.g. agency public meetings, briefings, press conferences, town halls)?	Green	26
13. Does the plan address existing record management requirements by providing:
a. Website link	Green	20
b. Identifying and scheduling all electronic records	Green	19-20
c. Timely transfer of all permanently valuable records to the National Archives	Green	20
14. Does the plan address FOIA by providing:
a. Website link?	Green	20
b. Staffing, organizational structure, and process for responding to FOIA requests?	Green	20-21 & site
c. Assessment of capacity to analyze, coordinate and respond to requests in a timely manner?	Green	20-20 & site
d. If there is a significant FOIA backlog, details on how the agency will reduce the backlog by 10% each year?	N/A
15. Does the plan address congressional requests by providing a:
a. Website link?	Green	21
b. Staffing, organizational structure, and process for responding to Congressional requests?	Green	20-21
16. Does the plan address declassification, if applicable by providing a:
a. Website link?	Green	21
b. Where the public can learn about declassification programs, accessing declassified materials, and provide input about what types of information should be prioritized for declassification?	N/A

Table 3: Participation
Question	Color	Pages
17. Does the plan explain how the agency will improve participation, including steps the agency will take to revise its current practices to increase opportunities for public participation in and feedback on the agency's core mission activities (including proposed changes to internal management and administrative policies to improve participation)?	Green	Throughout the plan
18. Does the plan describe and provide links to websites for the public to engage in existing participatory processes?	Green	9-10
19. Are there proposals for new feedback mechanisms (including innovative tools and practices for public engagement)?	Green	Throughout the plan

Table 4: Collaboration
Question	Color	Pages
Does the plan list steps the agency will take to revise its current practices to further collaboration:
20. With other Federal and non-Federal government agencies? Including the use of technology platforms to this end?	Green	Throughout the plan
21. With the public? Including the use of technology platforms?	Green	Throughout the plan
22. With non-profit and private entities? Including technology platforms?	Green	Throughout the plan
23. Are there links to websites that describe existing collaboration efforts of the agency?	Green	25
24. Does the plan describe the Innovative methods (e.g. prizes and collaborations) to increase collaboration with the private sector, non-profit, and academic communities?	Green	32

Table 5: Flagship Initiative
Question	Color	Pages
25. Does the plan include at least one specific flagship engagement?	Green	28-33
26. Does the description provide an overview of the initiative: how it addresses one or more of the three openness principles and how it aims to improve agency operations?	Green	28-29
27. Does it identify external partners for collaboration (if appropriate)?	Green	28-29
28. Is there a plan for public participation in contributing innovative ideas to the flagship?	Green	29-30
29. Does the description explain how the improvements to transparency, participation and/or collaboration will be measured?	Green	30-32
30. Does the flagship include a description of sustainability and room for improvement?	Green	32-33

Comments:

Re: 10: OPM does not produce materials that are specifically for educational purposes.
Re: 14d: OPM's FOIA backlog is insignificant; we have already reduced it to fewer than 50 outstanding requests.
Re: 16b: OPM does not have classification authority. We explain this fact on the Web page referenced in 16a.